Best Sf Quotes to Inspire, Uplift & Motivate You Every Day

“Fate laughs at men’s schemes.”

“Is it wrong of me to question whether the construction of cathedrals is, as we approach the twenty-first century, the best use of countless millions of dollars and the effort of generations of people? I agree that a project lasting longer than a human life span provides its participants with aspirations beyond the temporal. I even understand the motivation for carving a cathedral out of the Earth’s substrate, to create a testament to both human and divine architecture. But for me, science is the true modern cathedral, an edifice of knowledge every bit as majestic as anything made of stone. It fulfills all the goals that Yosemeti Cathedral does and more, and I wish more people appreciated that.”

“Perhaps I’m merely envious of the Church’s ability to raise money; forgive me for that, Lord. They are trying to celebrate your glory, Lord, just as we in the scientific community are, so I cannot disagree with them too strenuously. Our commonalities are more important than our differences.”

“When I was a boy I used to wish that God had given primordial men the gift of writing, because they would’ve been able to record the dates on which new stars appeared in the night sky. Then we’d know precisely how far away each star was, because we’d know—to the day—when each one’s light first reached the Earth. But men didn’t invent writing until long after the emergence of the stars, so astronomers are forced to use more indirect means to deduce their distances. My teachers told me that God wanted us to reason things out for ourselves. But what if that’s not true? What if”—his voice cracked—“what if God had no intentions about us at all?”

“Free will is a kind of miracle; when we make a genuine choice, we bring about a result that cannot be reduced to the workings of physical law. Every act of volition is, like the creation of the universe, a first cause.”

“Si nuestras vidas son cuentos que cuenta Alá, entonces somos la audiencia y los protagonistas al mismo tiempo, y es a fuerza de vivir esos cuentos como recibimos nuestras enseñanzas.”

“Just as we grow to understand the purpose of customs that seemed pointless to us in our youth,”

“Brahman Hindus believe that by reciting mantras, they are strengthening the building blocks of reality.”

“Physical law is what makes it possible to study the past; examine the state of the universe closely enough, and we can infer its state a moment earlier in time.”

“Each moment follows inexorably from the previous one and is followed inexorably by the next, links forged in a causal chain.”

“But the moment of creation is where all causal chains end; inference can lead us back to this moment and no further.”

“I believe the primordial humans made a choice. They found themselves in a world full of possibilities but with no guidance as to what to do.”

“instead, they sought to improve themselves so that they might become masters of their world.”

“But if it’s in fact true that you have no purpose in mind for me, then that sense of fulfillment has arisen solely from within myself.”

“This search is my purpose; not because you chose it for me, Lord, but because I chose it for myself.”

“Science is not just the search for the truth,” he said. “It’s the search for purpose.” And I had no response.”

“Help me to know when it’s appropriate to keep looking and when it’s better to ignore my doubts. Let me always be inquisitive, but never be suspicious. Amen.”

“Help me to understand other people’s positions, Lord, even when I don’t share them. At the same time, grant me the strength to not ignore wrongdoing simply because it is committed by someone who is well intentioned. Let me be compassionate while remaining true to my convictions. Amen. ·”

“This search is my purpose; not because you chose it for me, Lord, but because I chose it for myself. Amen.”

“If humanity is the central fact of the universe, if our species is the omphalos, then a close examination of the celestial sphere should confirm that privileged status. Our solar system should be the fixed point against which all else is moving; our Sun should be at absolute rest. If the evidence doesn’t support that premise, then we must ask where our commitment truly lies.”

“But what if that’s not true? What if”—his voice cracked—“what if God had no intentions about us at all?”

“left the dig because I feared that Lawson’s discovery rendered the whole enterprise meaningless.”

“Guide me toward the proper course of action, Lord. I recognize that my desire to seek answers, while necessary in scientific endeavors, is not always welcome outside of it. Help me to know when it’s appropriate to keep looking and when it’s better to ignore my doubts. Let me always be inquisitive, but never be suspicious. Amen.”

“Help me to understand other people’s positions, Lord, even when I don’t share them. At the same time, grant me the strength to not ignore wrongdoing simply because it is committed by someone who is well intentioned. Let me be compassionate while remaining true to my convictions. Amen.”

“I asked them to imagine what it would be like if we lived in a world where, no matter how deeply we dug, we kept finding traces of an earlier era of the world. I asked them to imagine being confronted with proof of a past extending so far back that the numbers lost all meaning: a hundred thousand years, a million years, ten million years. Then I asked, wouldn’t they feel lost, like a castaway adrift on an ocean of time? The only sane response would be despair. I told them that we are not so adrift. We have dropped an anchor and struck bottom; we can be certain that the shoreline is close by, even if we can’t see it. We know that you made this universe with a purpose in mind; we know that a harbor awaits. I told them that our means of navigation is scientific inquiry. And, I said, this is why I am a scientist: because I wish to discover your purpose for us, Lord.”

“They applauded when I had finished speaking, and I admit that I took pleasure from that. Forgive me for my pride, Lord. Help me to remember that all the work I do—whether it is excavating bones in the desert or giving lectures to the public—is not for my own glory, but for yours. Let me never forget that my task is to show others the beauty of your works and in doing so bring them closer to you. Amen.”

“I told Wilhelmina I would have to speak to her parents about what she had done. She seemed unconcerned. “I won’t apologize for bringing people closer to God. I know I’ve broken rules in doing so, but it’s the rules that need to be changed, not my behavior.” I told her that people couldn’t simply disobey rules just because they disagreed with them, because society would cease to function if everyone did that. “Don’t be silly,” she said. “You lied when you sent that mailgram as Mr. Dahl. Was that because you believe we should all be free to lie? Of course not. You thought about the situation and concluded that lying was justified. You’re prepared to take responsibility for what you did, aren’t you? Well, so am I. That’s what society needs us to do, not to follow rules without thinking.”

“Science is not just the search for the truth,” he said. “It’s the search for purpose.” And I had no response. I had always assumed those were one and the same, but what if they aren’t? I don’t know what to think now. It frightens me to imagine that you have never been listening at all.”

“Because I think there are events of another category that are likewise not fixed in a causal chain: acts of volition. Free will is a kind of miracle; when we make a genuine choice, we bring about a result that cannot be reduced to the workings of physical law. Every act of volition is, like the creation of the universe, a first cause.”

“They couldn’t have come into being with minds as blank as newborn infants, because they’d have rapidly starved to death in such a scenario.”

“[M]any people are so quick to classify events as miraculous that it devalues the word.”

“Lord, perhaps you don’t hear my prayers. But I’ve never prayed with the expectation that it would affect your actions; I prayed with the expectation that it would affect mine. So I pray now, for the first time in two months, because even if you’re not listening, I need the clarity of thought that prayer provides.”

“But I’ve never prayed with the expectation that it would affect your actions; I prayed with the expectation that it would affect mine.”

“If you want to create the common sense that comes from twenty years of being in the world, you need to devote twenty years to the task. You can't assemble an equivalent collection of heuristics in less time; experience is algorithmically incompressible.”

“By now you must have guessed: I come from another planet. But I will never say to you, Take me to your leaders. Even I - unused to your ways though I am - would never make that mistake. We ourselves have such beings among us, made of cogs, pieces of paper, small disks of shiny metal, scraps of coloured cloth. I do not need to encounter more of them.”